Many Under-Secretary posts lying vacant in govt. departments

Pending litigation cited as reason

09/03/2020,DENNIS S. JESUDASAN   CHENNAI

About half of the posts of Under-Secretary in various departments at the Secretariat are lying vacant.

Of the more than 200 such posts in 37 departments (regarded as one unit, excluding Finance and Law Departments) at the Secretariat, a little over 100 are currently vacant. While pending litigation in the Madras High Court is often cited as a reason behind the delay in appointing the Under-Secretaries, a section of the staff pointed out that appointment orders had previously been issued promoting staff to the post with a caveat that it would be subject to the outcome of the litigation. “The primary reason for the hold-up is a dispute between direct recruits and promotees, who joined government service as typists, and who have staked their claim to be appointed as Under-Secretaries. The dispute has been going on for a long time. If the government takes legal opinion on the issue, it could be resolved. Otherwise, if either party wins the case, naturally the other would file an appeal. Governance has been affected due to the dispute,” a bureaucrat claimed. A Section Officer said Under-Secretaries deal with files in three to four sections in a department and assist their seniors in taking decisions on the files. “In some departments, about 90% of these posts are vacant. It is due to the delay in promotions for about two years that the clearing of files is taking time. It will also eventually affect the promotions of Assistant Section Officers and Assistants. It is a cyclical issue,” he said.

Minister for Personnel and Administrative Reforms D. Jayakumar could not be reached for comment.